Are you guilty? 56% name ‘Unprepared Attendees’ as their biggest business meeting frustration

Over half (56%) of business people believe that ‘being unprepared’ is the one factor most likely to jeopardise the success of a meeting, according to a new survey from Lumi. The survey was designed to pinpoint what prevents a large corporate meeting, company town hall, webinar, launch or conference from being successful. Surprisingly lack of preparation was even more unpopular than lateness, although late arrivals were still seen as a major frustration by 51% of those polled.

Other attendees fiddling with laptops and phones also made respondents hot under the collar, with one third (33%) naming this as a major source of irritation. Other annoyances included meetings that overrun and a lack of agenda.
“Increasingly large global companies are trying to improve internal communications and employee engagement by holding town hall style meetings where company business is discussed and questions from the floor are actively encouraged. The results of our survey show that the need for interaction at these and other business meetings is being taken more seriously. But to make the most of this, attendees need to be ready to ask questions,” says Peter Eyre, UK managing director, Lumi.
“Organisers should be aware of this and help by publishing agendas well in advance and giving suitable notice of meeting content.”
Lumi is an expert in meetings and audience insight - and has researched extensively to discover what businesses can do to make their meetings more valuable. Its products, including mobile apps and handheld keypads, are used by hundreds of big-name multinationals as strategic tools to track and analyse participants’ opinions, preferences and feedback.